With January in the rearview mirror, it's time to focus on what February brings. While it may be the shortest month (even with leap year this year), there's much to do across the South.
We'll begin with the region's largest party - Mardi Gras. The closer it gets to Fat Tuesday (February 13), the festivities extend from Eureka Springs, Arkansas' Mardi Gras Day Parade (February 10), to Carnegie Carnival (February 10) in Decatur, Alabama, to Beaufort, North Carolina's Mardi Gras Celebration (February 9 - 11) and nearly everywhere in between. And here's even better news: destinations like Aiken, S.C., throw its Mardi Gras Festival on February 24.
February is Black History Month, and destinations like Birmingham, Alabama, Memphis, Tennessee, St. Augustine, Florida, and Louisville, Kentucky, among others, have many events planned.
February 19 is President's Day and a great time to think about planning a trip to Kentucky to explore Abraham Lincoln's life or Virginia, the Mother of Presidents, gave the country eight of its leaders (of course, it helped that the Commonwealth was the first and largest of the 13 colonies.) Texas provided the country with three presidents, and interestingly, it is also the state with the most presidential libraries - three: George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station and LBJ Presidential Library in Austin.
Other presidential places to consider include Plains, Georgia, Jimmy Carter's hometown and the Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West, Florida, the only presidential site in the state and it served as President Truman's winter White House.
Of course, the above-mentioned is just a small taste of what February has in store. For more events, check out Southern Hospitality's calendar.